Dipole-dipole interactions mediated by epsilon-and-mu-near-zero waveguide supercoupling [Invited]

We propose augmenting dipole-dipole interactions with the use of epsilon-and-munear-zero (EMNZ) supercoupling. In particular, we demonstrate via numerical simulations that this tunneling effect enables the coupling of two distant (arbitrarily located and oriented) quantum emitters as if they were located in the proximity of each other and within a straight waveguide. This effect is empowered by the zero phase advance and geometry independent nature of EMNZ supercoupling. We expect that this mechanism might be exploited in the development of waveguide QED setups, for example, by relaxing the requirements in positioning the emitters, and/or by facilitating the design and integration of complex waveguide networks with intricate geometry. To finalize, we also provide proposals for the design of several potential realizations of this concept, including a simple microwave waveguide setup, of interest for future proof-of-concept experiments, as well as an all-dielectric platform, suitable for operation at optical frequencies and integration on a chip. (C) 2017 Optical Society of America